Method for filling and welding film bags and a filling and welding device therefor

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for filling and welding film bags, wherein a plurality of film bags that are accommodated one after another on a rotating carousel are filled by means of a plurality of filling stations arranged on the rotating carousel and subsequently the filled film bags are guided in succession, by means of the rotating carousel, past a welding station, assigned to the rotating carousel and arranged in a stationary manner on the rotating carousel, for welding of the filled film bags, wherein the welding station comprises at least one welding device. The invention also relates to a filling and welding device for carrying out this method, having a rotating carousel with a plurality of filling stations, arranged thereon, for filling film bags, and a welding station, assigned to the carousel and arranged in a stationary manner on the rotating carousel, for welding the filled film bags, wherein the welding station comprises at least one welding device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. national stage entry of InternationalApplication No. PCT/EP2016/068752, filed Aug. 5, 2016, which claimspriority to European Application No. 15180140.4, filed Aug. 7, 2015, thecontents of both of which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a method for filling and welding film bags andto a fill and welding device therefor.

2. Description of Related Art

It is well known to fill film bags without a spout in clocked orsynchronized filling machines with a filling product, wherein anultrasonic generator for welding the filled film bags is assigned to orassociated with each filling station. By this film bag welding inmultiple rows caused by the parallel multi-clocking of the film bags,comparatively high costs are involved, since each filling station has tobe equipped with an ultrasonic generator. Also, time and energy wastesare relatively high due to the regular start-stop operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is the object of the invention to provide a method and adevice for filling and welding film bags, thereby enabling an effectiveand time efficient welding of the film bags.

The object is solved by the method and the device described herein.Preferred embodiments and variants are also disclosed.

With the method for filling and welding film bags, a plurality of filmbags accommodated in succession by a rotating carousel are filled by aplurality of filling stations positioned at the rotating carousel, andsubsequently the filled film bags are guided past a welding station bymeans of the rotating carousel, wherein the welding station is assignedto and stationarily positioned at the rotating carousel in order to weldthe filled film bags, wherein the welding station comprises at least onewelding device.

The method for filling and welding provides the possibility of filling aplurality of film bags in sequence during a continuous operation,wherein the film bags having completed the filling process are one afterthe other, i.e., individually, guided past the station associated withthe rotating carousel for welding. Consequently, a common weldingstation for welding is provided for all of the filled film bags.

At the welding station, the film bags may be welded, for instance, attheir upper edges. By providing a plurality of welding devicespositioned at different height levels of the welding station, the filmbags may be welded at the respective height levels at which the weldingdevices are positioned. In this case, the welding devices may bepositioned next to each other in a stacked or staggered manner. Whenpositioning the plurality of welding devices at the same height levelside-by-side, different areas of the film bags at the same height may bewelded.

Therefore, both the filling and the welding may take place in acontinuous process, wherein one welding station is associated with aplurality of filling stations.

Preferably, a single welding station is assigned to or associated withthe rotating carousel. In other embodiments, a plurality of weldingstations may be associated with the rotating carousel and may bepreferably arranged in succession and may be attached stationarily tothe rotating carousel.

Moreover, the method may comprise the steps: receiving the film bags bymeans of brackets associated with the filling stations and supplying thereceived film bags by means of the brackets and subsequently filling thefilm bags by means of the filling stations.

The film bags may be fed to the rotating carousel starting from a filmmagazine by means of a transfer wheel. The magazine may output the filmbags in parallel, i.e., in multiple rows, and in the transfer wheel, thefilm bags may be positioned in succession and may be transferred in thisarrangement to the rotating carousel. Generally, the film bags arestored in the film magazine in a folded state, such that after pickingup such a film bag by means of a bracket, opening the film bag bypressure is required in order to allow the filling station or thefilling valve of the filling station to access the interior of the filmbag.

A bracket may comprise two bracket portions that are configured to bemovable relative to each other, such that the distance therebetween isvariable. For picking up a film bag, the bracket is located at a firstposition, i.e., the two bracket portions have a first distance such thatthe non-filled film bag, the two upper edges of which are stacked oneach other, may be picked up by the bracket.

For opening the picked-up film bags by pressure, the two bracketportions may be moved so as to approach each other so that the bracketis in a second position, wherein the two bracket portions have a mutualsecond distance that is less than the first distance.

The filling of a film bag may be accomplished by means of a fillingvalve of the filling station that has received the film bag.

Moreover, the method may comprise the following steps, each performedduring the rotation of the rotating carousel: closing the filled filmbag by pulling apart the brackets, thereby stacking two upper edges ofthe filled film bag onto each other and subsequently welding therespective two stacked upper edges by means of the welding stationassigned to or associated with the rotating carousel.

After completing the filling, the filled film bag may be pulled apart,thereby stacking the two upper edges onto each other so that no spacingis present therebetween. The pulling apart may be accomplished by movingthe two bracket portions apart from each other. The bracket is then in athird position, i.e., the two bracket portions have a third distancewith respect to each other that corresponds to the first distance.

By rotating the rotating carousel around the rotation axis, the filledfilm bag is then guided past the welding station and subsequently thetwo stacked upper edges of the film bag are welded.

A filling and welding device for performing the method as discussedabove or as described below, comprises a rotating carousel including aplurality of filling stations arranged thereon for filling film bags andfurther comprises a welding station assigned to or associated with thecarousel, stationarily arranged on the rotating carousel for welding thefilled film bags, wherein the welding station comprises at least onewelding device.

The at least one welding device may be configured as an ultrasonicgenerator. Preferably, the welding station is arranged in the peripheryof the rotating carousel, thereby allowing the filled film bags to becontinuously guided past the welding station in order to perform thewelding process.

This filling and welding device enables the filling of a plurality offilm bags arranged one after the other during a continuous operation,wherein the film bags, having completed the filling process, are guidedone after the other, i.e., individually, past the welding stationarranged on the rotating carousel for performing the welding process.Therefore, both the filling and the welding may be accomplished in acontinuous process, wherein one welding station is assigned to orassociated with a plurality of filling stations.

The welding station may comprise one or several ultrasonic generators.Ultrasonic welding provides for a reduction of the duration of thewelding process for a film bag compared to a thermal welding method.Moreover, any elongation of the film caused by heat input is avoidedwhen an ultrasonic generator is used for the welding process.

Each of the plurality of filing stations may comprise a filling valveand a bracket for receiving and opening a film bag by pressure. By meansof the bracket, a film bag may be received and may be supported duringthe transport by means of the rotating carousel. By varying the positionof the bracket, a received or picked-up film bag may be opened bypressure, thereby forming a distance between its two upper edges.

The bracket may be configured to pull apart a filled film bag after thefilling process, thereby positioning or stacking two upper edges of thefilled film bag on each other. By further varying the position of thebracket, an opened and filled film bag may be pulled apart so that adistance between its two upper edges no longer exists.

The welding stations associated with or assigned to the carousel may beconfigured to weld two upper edges of a filled film bag. In this manner,the filled film bag is sealed and may be used for further operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding and visualization, aspects of the inventionare shown in the attached figures in an exemplary manner. In thefigures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a filling and welding device,

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective side view of a welding stationincluding two welding devices, and

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for filling and welding a film bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a top view of a filling and weldingdevice 1 comprising a rotating carousel 2 having arranged thereon inthis illustration five filling stations 3. Assigned to the rotatingcarousel 2 is a welding station 4 that comprises at least one weldingdevice. This welding station 4 is located in the periphery of therotating carousel 2 and is stationarily arranged thereon. In the topview, one of the welding devices 17 is partially illustrated. It isschematically indicated that ultrasonic sound 21 is emitted by thewelding device 17 to be used for welding the film bags.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic perspective side view of the weldingstation 4 along the viewing direction II.

The rotating carousel 2 is configured so as to be rotatable around arotation axis 5 such that film bags 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 supported by means ofbrackets 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 of the filling stations 3 are movable andmay thus be guided past the welding station 4 by means of the rotatingcarousel 2. The film bags 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are fed to the rotatingcarousel by means of a feeding star or feeding point 19 and afterfilling and welding, these film bags 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are removed from therotating carousel 2 by means of a diverting star or point 20.

A respective bracket 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, in this embodiment configuredin a two-part form, is assigned to each filling station 3, wherein thetwo bracket portions may approach or may be moved away from each otheralong the direction 16 indicated by arrows. For receiving or picking upa film bag 6, the bracket 11 is in a first position, i.e., the twobracket portions have first distance d1 so that the non-filled film bag6 with its two upper edges stacked on top of each other may be receivedor picked up by means of the bracket 11.

In order to enable the filling of the picked-up film bag 7, 8, it isopened by means of the bracket 12, 13, that is, between the two upperedges stacked on each other, a distance or space is obtained. To thisend, the two bracket portions are moved towards each other along thedirection indicated by arrows. The bracket 12, 13 is then in a secondposition, i.e., the two bracket portions have a second distance orspacing d2 relative to each other that is less than the first distanceor spacing.

After opening the picked-up film bags 7, 8, a filling with fillingproduct is performed by means of the filling station 3. After thefilling process is completed, the filled film bag 9 is closed by pullingapart the bracket 14, thereby positioning the two upper edges next toeach other. The pulling apart is accomplished by moving the two bracketportions away from each other along the direction indicated by arrows.The bracket 14 is now in a third position, i.e., the two bracketportions have a third distance or spacing d3 with respect to each otherthat corresponds to the first distance d1.

By rotating the rotating carousel around the rotation axis 5, the filledfilm bag 9, 10 is then guided past the welding station 4 and the twoupper edges of the film bag 10 positioned next to each other are welded.

In this manner, during a continuous operation in the filling and weldingdevice 1, a plurality of film bags 6, 7, 8, 9, positioned in successionmay be filled, wherein the film bags 9, 10, after completing the fillingprocess, may be guided one by one, i.e., individually, past the weldingstation 4 associated with the rotating carousel 2 for performing thewelding process.

Therefore, both the filling and the welding may be accomplished in acontinuous process, wherein a single welding station 4 is assigned to aplurality of filling stations 3.

Upstream of the filling and welding device, a film magazine for paralleloutput of film bags and a transfer wheel for transferring the outputfilm bags to the filling and welding device may be provided. The filmbags output in parallel by the magazine are arranged in succession inthe transfer wheel and, in this arrangement, are transferred to therotating carousel.

Downstream of the filling and welding device 1, a transfer wheel 20 forreceiving the filled and welded film bags 10 are arranged in successionand an output device may be provided. Moreover, upstream of the fillingand welding device 1, a transfer wheel 19 may be provided.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic perspective side view of a weldingstation 4 including two welding devices 17, 18, which, in this case, arearranged on top of each other with a determined distance or spacing d4in between. Hence, film bags passing the welding station 4 may be weldedin two respectively spaced areas. Consideration may also be given tooperating either one or the other welding device 17, 18 so thatcorresponding film bags will be welded in one area only.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method for filling and welding afilm bag by means of the filling and welding device discussed above andbelow. In step 100, a film bag is picked up or received by means of abracket. The bracket is assigned to or associated with a filling stationof a rotating carousel that has a plurality of filling stations andrespective multiple brackets, wherein the filling station is providedfor subsequently filling the film bag by moving the filling station andthe brackets on circular trajectories during the rotation of therotating carousel. For example, a bracket may comprise two bracketportions that may be moved towards each other or away from each other.For picking up the film bag, the bracket is in a first position, i.e.,the two bracket portions have a first distance or spacing, so that thenon-filled film bag with its two upper edges positioned next to eachother may be picked up by the bracket.

In step 101, during the rotation of the rotating carousel, the picked upfilm bag is opened by pressure by means of the bracket. To this end, thetwo bracket portions are moved towards each other so that the bracket isin a second position, i.e., the two bracket portions have a seconddistance or spacing that is less than the first distance. Due to theforced opening, a spacing or distance is formed between the two upperedges of the film bag positioned next to each other so that in step 102,the film bag may be filled by means of the filling station. In step 103,the filled film bag is closed or sealed during the rotation of therotating carousel by pulling apart the bracket, thereby positioning thetwo upper edges of the filled film bag next to each other. The pullingapart is accomplished by moving the two bracket portions away from eachother. The bracket is then in a third position that corresponds to thefirst position so that the two bracket portions have a third distance orspacing that corresponds to the first distance or spacing.

In step 104, the film bag is welded by means of the welding stationduring the rotation of the rotating carousel, i.e., by means of at leastone welding device that is permanently arranged on the welding device byhaving the film bag pass by the welding station, wherein the two upperedges positioned next to each other and/or other areas of the film bagmay be welded.

The welding station is stationarily arranged on the rotating carousel,for instance, in its periphery.

Since the film bag is arranged on a carousel during rotation, the filmbag is moved by the rotating carousel after being picked up by thebracket so that the film bag is moved along the circumference of therotating carousel during the described method and is moved to thestationarily arranged welding station positioned in the periphery of therotating carousel for performing the welding process.

Consequently, the method may be applied for the filling and welding of aplurality of film bags that are arranged on the rotating carousel insuccession, wherein the filling and the subsequent welding may beaccomplished in a continuous manner.

While there have been shown and described fundamental novel features ofthe invention as applied to the preferred and exemplary embodimentsthereof, it will be understood that omissions and substitutions andchanges in the form and details of the disclosed invention may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of theinvention. Moreover, as is readily apparent, numerous modifications andchanges may readily occur to those skilled in the art. Hence, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operationshown and described and, accordingly, all suitable modificationequivalents may be resorted to falling within the scope of the inventionas claimed. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only asindicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

1. A method for filling and welding film bags characterized in that aplurality of film bags received in succession by a rotating carousel arefilled by a plurality of filling stations arranged on the rotatingcarousel and subsequently the filled film bags are guided, one after theother, by the rotating carousel, past a welding station assigned to therotating carousel and stationarily arranged on the rotating carousel soas to weld the filled film bags, wherein the welding station comprisesat least one welding device.
 2. The method of claim 1, comprising thesteps: picking up the film bags by means of brackets assigned to thefilling stations and opening the picked-up film bags by means of thebrackets and thereafter filling the film bags by means of the fillingstations.
 3. The method of claim 2, comprising the steps: closing thefilled film bags by pulling apart the brackets, thereby positioningrespective two upper edges of the filled film bags next to each otherand thereafter welding the respective two upper edges positioned next toeach other by means of the welding station assigned to the rotatingcarousel.
 4. A filling and welding device for performing the method ofclaim 1, comprising a rotating carousel including a plurality of fillingstations arranged thereon for filling film bags and a welding stationassigned to the carousel and stationarily arranged on the rotatingcarousel for welding the filled film bags, wherein the welding stationcomprises at least one welding device.
 5. The filling and welding deviceof claim 4, wherein the welding station comprises one or more ultrasonicgenerators.
 6. The filling and welding device of claim 4, wherein eachof the plurality of filling stations comprises a filling valve and abracket for picking up and opening a film bag.
 7. The filling andwelding device of claim 6, wherein the bracket is configured to pullapart a filled film bag after completing a fill process, whereby twoupper edges of the filled film bag are positioned next to each other. 8.The filling and welding device of claim 4, wherein the welding stationassigned to the carousel is configured to weld two upper edges of afilled film bag.